For several years now it has been the common practice to package delicate handling-sensitive items, such as, for example, printed circuit boards, within an antistatic plastic bag which, in turn, is surrounded by a generous layer of protective foam and then is placed within a corrugated cardboard box. This bag within a foam box packaging scheme, while providing adequate protection for shipping and storage, suffers from several disadvantages. The principle disadvantage is the danger of exposure of the printed circuit board to dust contaminates and potential electrostatic charges each time the printed circuit board is removed from the packaging for inspection. The printed circuit board may undergo visual inspection several times during the shipping process to check for physical damage and to verify that the product indicated on the outer label is the same as that contained within the package. This problem is not inconsiderable especially since the product may also be inspected a number of times at the distributor and/or the retail level for purposes of inventory and display before it finds its way to the end user or for use out in the field.
Further, the bag within a foam box packaging technique is wasteful of resources and does not encourage recycling since the metal leads protruding from the bottom surface of the printed circuit boards often penetrate and tear the surrounding plastic bag material rendering them unusable for repackaging. Similarly, the foam layer and cardboard boxes are easily torn and subject to rapid wear and tear during shipping, handling and opening for inspection.
As an alternative, another technique for packaging printed circuit boards involves the use of specially constructed impact resistant container housings which include tracks or slots formed along the inside end walls and/or upstanding side walls of the container. The tracks are sized for receiving the side edges of the printed circuit board such that the board is suspended horizontally within the container. These containers are typically constructed of conductive carbon filled polymeric material in order to provide a "Faraday Cage" and include an openable end door to permit access for testing and "burning in" of the printed circuit boards while still in the container. An example of such a specially constructed protective container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,813 issued to Stephen S. Powell. Such specially constructed housings are expensive to manufacture. This increased packaging cost is typically passed along to the consumer. Further, the printed circuit board must still be removed from the protective container for visual inspection.
Accordingly there is a definite need in the art for an improved low cost container package for handling-sensitive articles, such as a printed circuit board, which permits visual inspection of the article contained therein and which is adaptable to the size of the article to be packaged so that one size container may be used for different sized articles.